A New Tournament: Ravenwood Style
by Ether Morlon
Summary: "Yes, it had recently come to the attention of the Council that there indeed is a magical population on Earth and has been for quite some time. Magical governments completely separated from the mundane ones, their own laws, police forces, banks, and schools."


Characters:

William Spiritvine -Life(Champion) Kookaburra Wysteria Villa dorms with Art  
-Black hair, green eyes: goes by Will

Artemis Silvershade-Death(Champion) Phoenix Villa  
-Curly black hair, gray eyes: goes by Art

Alexander Winterthorn-Ice(Prodigious) Shiverous Knight  
-Curly white hair, blue eyes: Nickname is Alec

Nikolas Moonflame-Fire(Prodigious) Winged Catatrosphe Watchtower Hall  
-Ginger hair, brown eyes, freckles, gets sunburned easily: Nik or Niko

Talia Ravenscale-Balance(Champion) Sabertooth Myth House shares with Kat  
-Curly, long brown hair, brown eyes: goes by Tal

Rina Rainscar-Storm(Prodigious)↝ Phoenix Treetop getaway shares with Em  
-Black hair, brown eyes, tan: Rinnie

Emilia Silverspeak-Myth(Champion)↝Dragon Treetop getaway  
-Blonde, blue eyes, freckles: Emi or Em

All of them are about 18-19 range

* * *

Alexander Winterthorn; the Champion Ice mage and self-proclaimed genius was currently screaming multiple obscenities at Yevgney Nighcreeper. The Lord of Death Malistaire; who had astonishingly returned back from wherever he was banished to, had invoked the Law of Kan Davasi. Alexander, along with his usual dungeon raiding group had teleported to Darkmoor to challenge the undead necromancer the first chance they had gotten. But, alas, the Astral Knight charged with protecting the graveyard had proven too strong yet again; for the third time in a row.

"You think you've won, don't you? We'll be back, and I'll be taking Malistaire's staff with me!" shouted Alec to the amused and chuckling Yevgney.

"Yes, I've heard it before. You've said that twice already, tiny human mage of winter. When will you and your little friends learn that you are no match for me? Go back to your Wizard City and lick your wounds. I'm sure I will see you again for your fourth loss." Nightcreeper laughed out and shook his head smugly.

"Argh!" shouted the Ice mage, as he stomped his foot on the ground for emphasis. His robes were scorched at the ends, whereas other parts were still frosted from ice attacks. His usually immaculate curly white strands were matted with sweat and dirt and looked more brown than white.

"Come on, Alec. Let's go back to Ravenwood, we've had enough for today," said Talia, the Balance mage's brown eyes were ringed with exhaustion.

"Yes. Yes, run away with your tail between your legs, little mages!" guffawed the Astral Knight.

The thaumaturge growled as he took a menacing step towards the undead knight, until Will, the reliable Life mage and stalwart peacemaker that he was, grabbed the back of the Ice mage's robes, "Let's go, Winterthorn," in a colorful, showering burst of magic the trio was out of the graveyard and at the front of Castle Darkmoor. "By the Light, you're worse than Art with your temper!"

Talia giggled exhaustedly as they walked through the portal to Nightside, "Let's just go home and replenish our mana."

The trio milled about in Nightside, by the lopsided Death School. Talia straightened out her robes and fixed her frazzled, curly, brown hair as Will patted away the dirt and scorch marks on his green robes. Alec was still too fuming and upset to care for the state of his dress.

"I wanted that staff," Alec said plaintively, voice whining and sorrowful.

Talia patted the thaumaturge's head and grimaced in disgust as her hand came back dirty, "You'll have the staff one day, Al. We just have to build on our strategy and tactics."

"Yeah, Alec. We just gotta figure out a better strategy," Will agreed, "Ah, I just got a message from Art. He says Merle wants to talk to us about something." The Life mage looked down at the watch on his wrist as the holographic image popped up to show the message from Artemis for everyone to read.

_-Merle is calling everyone to talk to him. And by everyone, he means our wonderful little group of 'seven special Champions from Earth'. Sounds interesting. -Art_

"Merle is calling our seven? I wonder why." Talia questioned with a frown on her face and brown eyes concerned.

"It must be about Earth if he's asking to talk to our seven. Come on, let's just go to the Commons and see what the matter is. No point in standing around here and guessing," Alec said and walked towards the entrance that leads out of the dark, gloomy cavern.

The trio emerged from the cavern to stand under the torrent of water from the waterfall and blinked at the bright beams of sunlight that filtered past soft, fluffy clouds.

"The water is refreshing and all. But we really have to find another entrance to this place that doesn't have a waterfall right over it." Will commented as he spelled everyone dry.

"Or we could just try putting the Death School back where it belongs," Talia added with a chuckle, "Honestly, it's been a while, and I'm sick of seeing that gaping hole next to the Fire school building."

"Yes. It's quite the eyesore." Will agreed as the trio walked to Merle's office.

* * *

The Headmaster of Ravenwood quickly ushered the trio to the adjoining room where the rest of the seven mages from Earth milled about while Gamma sat roosted on his perch.

"Ah, the last of the seven. We're all here now. My most recent alumni, it truly does my heart proud. So much to say, so much to say. Let's start from the beginning shall we?" Merle rambled, as he leafed through some papers in his hands.

"So what do you need to talk about Headmaster? Rina and I assumed it must be about Earth if you called our seven specifically to talk." Emilia questioned, the Myth mage stood near Gamma's perch and petted the wise old owl in greeting.

"Ah yes, exactly. It is most definitely as you have deduced. For you see, it has come to the Council's attention that there is indeed a magical society on Earth!" Headmaster Ambrose exclaimed excitedly to the other's confusion.

"What? What do you mean there's a magical society on Earth?" Artemis questioned, confusion and shock clear on his face, "I mean, the reason that mages who are born on Earth come straight to Ravenwood is because there is no large enough magical population."

"Exactly." Will said, nodding along to the Death mage's statement, "Maybe there were small points in history where humans on Earth practiced magic, but currently, there is nothing. Which is why magically talented children come straight here."

"Yeah. No magical population means no magical society, which means no educational institutions for the magical arts." Alec concluded.

"Are we to now understand that this fact isn't true anymore? There's honestly a magical society on Earth? And I'm not asking about some ramshackle little village of wizards but like an actual society. Like with governments, laws, cities, and such?" asked Nikolas, as he ran his hand through ginger locks and pinched the bridge of his nose in bewilderment.

"Yes, it had recently come to the attention of the Council that there indeed is a magical population on Earth and has been for quite some time. Magical governments completely separated from the mundane ones, their own laws, police forces, banks, and schools," Merle answered, with a frown on his wizened face, "We've discovered these societies on Earth have been hidden in every country right under the mundane populations' nose."

"How long do you believe that these magical populations have existed on Earth? I'm shocked that the rest of the Spiral has remained unaware of this. I mean, for years mages from Earth have been attending Ravenwood. And to think that magic has been on Earth this whole time?" Rina questioned, the Storm mage fiddled with Emilia's cloak in agitation.

"Ah, excellent question. Some magical bloodlines of Earth go back to 382 BC." The Headmaster answered dropping the bombshell.

"You cannot be serious! That's insane! It's simply not possible that the entire Spiral and the goddamned Council of Light could have missed an entire magical population of a planet for that long!" Alec shouted.

"I agree with the snowman, Headmaster. It seems unreal that a population of magical people could have remained hidden for so long. That's extremely suspicious." Nikolas agreed.

"Shut it, gingerbread!"

"I just agreed with you, Frosty-" Nikolas sighed before he was hit in the face with a giant snowball, " -Ouch! Honestly, Popsicle?"

Talia helped the Fire mage up from the floor and brushed off the ice he had become covered in and whispered, "Alec is a little irritable from Darkmoor Castle. I would recommend that you refrain from the adorable nicknames for the time being. It's cute, but I don't think he'll appreciate them today."

"Yeah, I got that from the avalanche that just fell on me," Niko growled, melting the ice around his vicinity with a quick spell.

* * *

_"Do you see what I see?" Will whispered to Artemis._

_"Yes, it's absolutely exhausting," Artemis complained._

_"But doesn't it remind you of us?" Will chuckled._

_"Ah, you mean the beautiful days of pissing each other off and traumatizing poor, old Diego with our ridiculous duels. Ah, we were such jerks to each other. The nostalgia is almost crippling," Artemis said, tone dripping with sarcasm before sighing longingly, "Times were much simpler then, wasn't it? When all we had to worry about was a rogue Professor?"_

_"Yeah." Will sighed._

* * *

"Anyway, moving on," Alec continued, cleaning his nails on his robes as the others looked on in shock at his blase attitude, "How did the Council not notice the magical population on Earth for all this time? Honestly, it just doesn't seem possible."

"Yes," Rina agreed, even as she and Emilia edged away from the volatile thaumaturge, "It does seem pretty suspicious. I have trouble believing that the magical populace of an entire planet could have hidden away for years without the knowledge of some of the best leaders of the Spiral."

"I understand, and while it is somewhat suspicious, I don't see what type of motive the Council would have for hiding such information from the rest of the Spiral," Talia added.

"The only motive I can think of is so that there would be more mages coming to Ravenwood. But then our dear Headmaster's integrity would be in question," Artemis said, and looked at Merle, as his gray eyes danced with mirth.

Merle laughed nervously, "I would never-"

"We know you would never Headmaster. It's not like Ravenwood was ever in need of bolstering its student numbers. The only worthwhile explanation is that nobody ever questioned the claim that there was no large magical population to be found on Earth. Or that nobody ever truly looked close enough." Alec elaborated.

"I agree, snow cone." Nik continued on, "Even though throughout history small magical populations did form, they were quick to die out. Not to mention the witch trials and such. I think it was just assumed that there would never be a large enough magical society on Earth. So what would be the point to keep on looking."

"Exactly," Emilia agreed, "And, for the rest of the Spiral the magical and the mundane were never separated. One never hid from the other. I think the witch hunts and trials, truly made a large impact on Earth's magical community."

"I agree," Alec said excitedly, "Anyone not well versed on the planet's history would have given Earth a superficial look, and when they didn't find any magical population, they would have left claiming that there wasn't any magic on Earth."

"Yes, exactly." Nikolas agreed, sending a small smile the Ice mage's way.

"You seven are very keen," Headmaster Ambrose said proudly, "My colleagues came to that exact same conclusion ourselves. We poured over many records of our observations on Earth throughout the years. Our researchers made numerous reports detailing Earth's technological abilities but never were there any notes or comments on magic."

"I think a more thorough investigation of Earth might be in order." Talia murmured.

"I agree, my dear," Merle said with a nod, "Our researchers have truly failed in their observations. It is saddening to think the Spiral has missed an entire planet full of magical peoples."

"Okay, while this is all very exciting and shocking. I'm sure you haven't just called us here to inform us about Earth. So what is it?" Emilia asked.

"Of course. I have called you seven here today for a reason. Now, since magic on Earth has been discovered, my colleagues and I have been in talks about sending some mages down to truly learn more about its magical population. Right now we know very little." Merle explained.

"Do you wish for us seven to go, Headmaster?" Rina asked, excitedly.

"Yes, exactly. I thought who better to study Earth than the ones from the world itself. The seven of you know more about its customs, traditions, and cultures than anyone else. And you are also more than qualified as well." Headmaster Ambrose said with a proud smile.

"I understand your reasoning Headmaster. However, although we may be from Earth; and I believe I speak for us all when I say, that I have never seen this hidden, magical side of it my entire life. I wouldn't even know where to start looking." Emilia said with a saddened expression.

"Ah, yes, I understand. I won't be sending the seven of you blindly onto Earth, of course. About three months ago, the Council of Light actually reached out to Earth's International Confederation of Wizards. Quite the grand name, is it not?" Merle said, chuckling.

"Sounds something equivalent to the United Nations." Nikolas murmured.

"Yes, Nikolas. We reached out in hopes of establishing contact after the evidence of there being magic on Earth had come to light. There was a bit of panic on both sides, I'm sure you can imagine. After many discussions, both sides reached the conclusion that we would slowly release to the public that Earth would join the rest of the Spiral. However, before that can happen the Council agreed that more information about Earth and specifically more information on its magical system would be needed." Headmaster Ambrose explained.

"I bet this news will make more of a shocking impact on Earth than for the rest of the Spiral." Artemis snickered to Will.

"Anyway, the British Minister of Magic and the Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards reached out to the Council." Merle continued.

"Supreme Mugwump?" Alec questioned, incredulous at the odd title.

"Interesting name, isn't it?" Ambrose chuckled.

"Interesting is one word for it," Artemis muttered to Will who chuckled in amusement.

"The Supreme Mugwump is the individual who heads the International Confederation of Wizards. His name is Albus Dumbledore, and he's also the headmaster of a wizarding school called Hogwarts. The British Minister of Magic reached out to the Council as it seems that Hogwarts is holding a tournament for young wizards from schools all around Earth. In light of recent revelations, Ravenwood has also been invited." Headmaster Ambrose explained.

"Oh, I can see where this is going. It's Pigswick all over again. Another school, another tournament, more mysteries to solve, and nothing new." Rina sighed, disappointed.

Ambrose chuckled in amusement, "Yes, Rina has gotten to the crux of it. I have called you, seven, together to be Ravenwood's and the Council's representatives for this Triwizard Tournament that Hogwarts is hosting. You will also be able to join in on the classes at Hogwarts to learn more about the magic from your homeworld."

"But Headmaster, all seven of us have graduated Ravenwood already. Wouldn't it be unfair, as we aren't students anymore?" Talia questioned.

"I understand your concern, Talia. However, you wouldn't be going as just students but also as representatives of the Council of Light. There is an age restriction for the tournament as well. No one under the age of seventeen will be allowed to enter. As all seven of you are eighteen and a bit older, you will be fine. You seven also have great battle experience under your belt. To be honest, I would be a little concerned sending a student into such an unknown society."

"I see, Headmaster. That makes sense." Talia nodded.

"So this Hogwarts school, then? I wonder what it's like. It'll be interesting learning the magical practices of our home world for sure." Nikolas murmured.

"It'll be quite the experience, I'm already excited. I wonder how Earth's magical community has developed in such isolation. Think about the culture, the spells, and types of magic they've probably come up with. I mean, we might be from Earth, but it'll be like diving into a whole new world." Alec said breathlessly.

Nikolas chuckled at the Ice mage's excitement, and ruffled his white curls, "Calm down, frosty. Anymore excited and you might melt."

Alec growled in anger as he swatted the pyromancer's hand away, "Must you ruin every good mood I have?"

"It's practically my job at this point." Niko bantered back, pinching Alec's cheek.

"Sure it is. And mine must be to give you frostbite." The pyromancer yelped at the biting cold to his hand that came along with the response.

"Ah-ha ahem, moving on. I will not be accompanying the seven of you to Hogwarts, I'm afraid. With Bartleby so poorly, I cannot leave my station. I will trust you seven to have Ravenwood's and the Spiral's best interest at heart. I trust your decisions as representatives of the Council of Light and know you will be wise in the choices you make." Merle said with a proud smile on his face.

After a bit more discussion, Merle excused the seven wizards after notifying them of the date and time they needed to be at the Ministry of Magic for introductions with the Minister and Headmaster of Hogwarts.

* * *

The septet walked out of the Headmaster's office and into the Commons and rested around the large tree by the lake.

"So Art, what should we do first?" Nikolas asked as he took off his boots and dipped his feet into the cool waters of the lake.

"Why are you asking me?" Artemis asked with a flabbergasted look.

"Hello? Our dearly beloved unofficial leader? What's his name again?" Rina asked with a smirk.

"Hmm, doesn't it rhyme with cart or was it dart?" Emilia said.

"Haha, very funny guys. But you all know I never spent much time on Earth, I was always here. I don't think I should lead this one." Art said with a frown of uncertainty.

"You're our strategist, Art. We wouldn't have survived even half our battles without you, man. You gotta lead this one as well. We'll back you up. And you know we're not afraid of questioning your calls either." Niko said.

Everyone around their circle nodded with agreement and Artemis scratched the back of his head with embarrassment and a soft smile; touched by their confidence in him.

"We believe in you, Art. Don't sell yourself short. I mean you've gotten us this far, we're still alive surprisingly." Alec said with a chuckle.

"Yeah. There were so many times I thought we were goners. But; hey, we're still here!" Will said.

"Ok, ok. Let's all go home and pack up for the trip. Just bring your essentials with you. We can always teleport back for anything else we need. Let's all meet back up by Bartleby tomorrow, and then we'll travel to Earth from there."

The seven all teleported back to their homes in a bright, flashy array of colors.

* * *

Alec teleported back to his Arcanum apartment to pack up a few essential things. His apartment was sparsely decorated, mostly just containing his bed, desk, and crafting stations on the first level. The second carried his more important trophies like all the wands he'd bought, received, or had been awarded and also things like the Spiral Cup. The rest of his things resided either in his old dorm room for safe storage or at his parent's house on Earth.

His Shiverous Knight was running freely around the apartment, excited to know another adventure was close at hand. After everything was neatly packed into his backpack and spelled into a pocket dimension, Alec went to bed excited for the next day. The next morning consisted of a rushed morning routine, hastily teleporting to Ravenwood, and running to Bartleby where Nikolas was already waiting.

"So, Winterthorn? Excited about some weird, unknown magical school on Earth?" Nikolas asked, as the Fire and Ice mages waited for their colleagues to arrive

"Yeah, I guess. New magic is new magic, ya know? I'm always excited to learn new spells and stuff. How about yourself, Moonflame?" Alec replied.

"I'm more concerned as to how these people kept themselves hidden from the Spiral for so long, Snowcone," Niko replied.

"Again with the nicknames, Gingerbread?" Alec growled.

"I don't see the problem, Snowflake. Seems you got just as many for me." Nikolas said, smirking at the Ice mage.

"You're exhausting, you know that?"Alec said with an exasperated sigh.

"Just being my amazing self, as usual, Winterthorn."

"I give up."

* * *

Artemis and Will traveled back to their Wysterian villa that they had bought together. It was a beautiful, sun-kissed piece of property right by the windy Wysterian coast. The grounds had an abundance of gorgeous cypress trees, a roaring waterfall, plenty of room to store treasures from their travels, and an absolutely amazing ocean view. Art loved waking up, grabbing a steaming mug of coffee, and taking it to enjoy out by the small pavilion past the waterfall and fountain. The refreshing sea breeze and piping hot coffee always did wonders for his morning grumpiness.

"Didn't Ambrose say something about a fancy ball? Should we pack suits? Or would dress robes be more appropriate?" Will asked, combing through the closet.

"I'm not entirely sure. I'm thinking maybe dress robes? If its something else, we call always port back and grab it." Art replied from where he was looking through his backpack.

"What else should we pack?" Came Will's question from inside the closet.

"Potions, an extra set of robes and casual clothes, and a map," Artemis listed out, "Honestly, we'll be porting back home every night, so we don't really need much. Let's just err on the side of caution."

"I agree. Better to be safe than sorry."

* * *

Talia ported back to her house that resided on top of a cyclops' shoulder that she shared with her little sister. Her sister was a Myth mage and had only just recently started attending Ravenwood.

It was only the revelation that her sister would also be attending Ravenwood that had pushed Talia to attend. Their parents, themselves, were alumni of Ravenwood; both Balance mages from Earth. When they had married the decision was made to start a family on their homeworld instead of on another planet as they had missed the rest of their family too much during their schooling and travels. The decision was fairly simple and easy to make as the rest of the Spiral was just a teleport away.

And so Talia and Katelyn grew up on Earth with frequent trips out to the rest of the Spiral to visit friends and such. Talia had much liked Earth during her childhood and had grown deep roots through friends, school, and family. She hadn't enjoyed the thought of one-day throwing all that away to go off and study magic on another planet. At eight; just a year before her baby sister would be born, Talia's mind had been made up, and she had followed through.

For the next couple of years, she attended school on Earth, and a tutor was hired to help her study magic in the comfort of her home. She was also able to have one on one tutoring with the Ravenwood professors during the weekends on account of her amazing magical potential; something her parents loved bragging about. Talia still had to take exams and such at Ravenwood, but she enjoyed her life. Well until her sister came along and the entire fiasco with Malistaire had blown up. With her sister's manifested magic and her being so excited about attending Ravenwood, she had known that she had to do something to help out if she wanted her baby sister safe.

And so, she joined the fight. From Malistaire to Morganthe, and now to Grandfather Spider. Her life had been turned completely upside down, but, by the Light, was it an amazing experience. She made so many friends, learned so much, and had saved an entire galaxy many times over. Now when she looked back to her past and many experiences, there was nothing she regretted.

"So, Earth has some weird, hidden magical population in like every country that the rest of the mundane population has no idea about?"

"Yup," Talia answered while she packed a small bag with essentials.

"So, you're going to a magic school on Earth?"

"Yup."

"For a competition?"

"Yup."

"For how long?"

"I'm not sure, a couple of months maybe?" Talia answered.

"You'll be coming home every night, right?"

"Yup."

"I don't like this. You're going in basically blind." Kat said with a worried frown.

"I know. We don't have much information, but we've gone into worlds just as blindly before. And this is our home world, at least this time we know the culture, traditions, geography and such. That's more than we've had for other worlds." Talia said.

"Still, this magical side of Earth that you're getting involved in could be totally different," Kat argued.

"Yes. However, Ambrose has said that they've been pretty forthcoming with information. Our group is just going to be attending school. We don't have a very dangerous assignment, I think. There are other mages being given more interesting missions for Earth."

"I guess. But I still don't like it." Kat said.

"Hey, come on. I've done way more dangerous things than this. It's just a school. And we need more information if Earth is going to be joining the rest of the Spiral."

"Well, I didn't like those other times either. You're gonna have to get back home every day and send lots of pictures." Kat replied, still with a worried frown on her face.

"Oh, Kat. I'll come back with tons of pictures of the place. And I'll make sure to get a bunch of souvenirs as well."

"You better!" Kat laughed as she hugged her sister.

* * *

The next day, Talia's morning was filled with her sister's worried reminders and questions of whether she had packed everything she needed for the journey. After rushing around the house for an hour or so, the Balance mage was finally teleported to Ravenwood and hurried to Bartleby where the other six were waiting.

"Hey, Tal! Took you long enough." Emilia said as she hugged the Balance mage in greeting.

"Morning, Em. Yeah, you know how Kat gets. She had to look through my bag and double check everything herself." Talia explained, scratching the back of her head with a shrug.

Rina laughed in amusement, "Kat really watches over you, huh? Honestly, Tal, it's a good thing. Remember the time you ported to school without shoes on?"

"Forget shoes one damn time, and you jerks remind me every chance you get," Talia muttered in exasperation.

"The hilarious thing was that you didn't even realize you forgot them because you'd spelled on wings," Alec said with a laugh.

"At least my nails were done," Talia muttered, crossing her arms as the others laughed.

"Alright guys, let's get going to Earth now. Does everyone have their keys?" Artemis asked as he pulled his out.

"Yup. Let's get this show on the road." Alec said, as they all took out their keys to Earth and took a step toward their new journey.


End file.
